Georgia Southern senior midfielder Smith Cathey and freshman defender Claire Casey have each earned a spot on the 2024 All-Sun Belt Conference women's soccer second team, announced this week by league officials.
It's the fourth straight season in which the Eagles have placed multiple players on the All-Sun Belt Conference women's soccer team.
Cathey earns the honor after being named a preseason All-Conference selection prior to the 2024 campaign. The Madison, Ga., native set career highs in points and assists for the Eagles in 2024, tallying eight goals with three assists for 19 points. She finished the regular season ranked in the Top 5 in the Sun Belt in both goals scored and points and was named to the OUTRIGGER Kickoff All-Tournament Team (Aug. 18, 2024) in Hawai'i. Cathey delivered the game-winning goal in Georgia Southern's 2-1 win over South Alabama on Oct. 18 amd also scored goals in three straight Sun Belt matches from Oct. 13-24. In addition, she delivered game-winning goal in the Eagles' 1-0 road win at Marshall on Oct. 6 and also notched a pair of assists in the Eagles' 2-2 draw with Mercer on Aug. 29. This is the first All-Conference honor for the senior.
Casey, meanwhile, becomes the second Eagle freshman to earn All-Conference honors over the last three seasons, joining goalkeeper Katie Oakley (2022). She started 17 of 19 matches for the Eagles at center back and also started all 10 Sun Belt matches, missing just one minute of action in league play. She notched four goals this season, all coming on headers via Eagle corner kicks, and delivered back-to-back game-winning goals against North Florida on Sept. 5 and Jacksonville State on Sept. 8, helping her earn Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 10. The Williamston, Mich., native notched Sun Belt goals against Arkansas State and Southern Miss this season as well.
